Misery of the Polish newcomers

28 January 2006

Everybody loves the Poles. Everybody loves reliable plumbers and natural-born nannies. Only Andrzej Tutkaj, of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, is sceptical about the benefits of the march from East to West.

I spoke to Mr Tutkaj on the telephone this week and asked him how all the new Poles were faring in London. There was silence, then a sigh. ‘I personally,’ said Mr Tutkaj, ‘don’t like to over-glorify the Polish people. They are far from ideal.

‘Since Poland joined the EU, it has been very hard work for the people in the firing line having to deal with desperate Poles with no money and nowhere to live. A lot of mistakes have been made.’ What do you mean? ‘Well, last year, the government said that there were 500,000 unfilled jobs in Britain. So of course this spreads instantly around Poland. “Wonderful,” everybody thinks, and comes straight over here. Thousands of them, hundreds of thousands. I would estimate there are half a million Poles in England now.’

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Sean Maliphant Hogan

November 30th, 2007 11:11am Report this comment

REALITY BITES I spent 4 years at Andrzej's abode in Hounslow and I feel I got to know him quite well. He's a good Catholic and staunch supporter of Cardiff City and of Glamorgan Cricket Club. His heart is in the right place. Let's get one thing straight, however. Andrzej and the organisation he's wheedled himself into speaks for no-one, neither for the British-Poles such as himself nor for herds of Slavic folk that are now being bussed into the UK. It is merely a small social club sporting a ludicrously gradiose title ripe for hijacking as the generation behind its founding fades way. No doubt Andrzej may have political pretensions. I stress again : the FoP should not be taken any more seriously than any village debating society. Today he questions the Polish presence here; tomorrow he may perform a 180 degree turn in opinion. Andrzej was a figure of fun among his Polish tenants, who mocked his shaky grasp of Polski. He is what Stalin would term a 'useful idiot', i.e. a do-gooder who claims expertise in an area in which he is no more qualified to comment upon than you or I. He was born and brought up in Cardiff and his sensibilities are entirely British. He is the beneficiary of British institutions : free schooling, healthcare, democracy and religious tolerance. Such privileges should not be treated lightly. Poland was never part of the British Commonwealth and for much longer do we have to be made to feel guilty for the deal struck at Yalta in 1944 or for not intervening (how?) during the Warsaw Uprising the same year. We went to war for Poland, after all. On a personal note, I do hope next time Poland faces Wales in soccer Andrzej will choose support 'Cymru', not 'Polska'. Anyway, it's 30th November as I write this message. St Andrew's Day. Name Days of patron saints as celebrated as birthdays in Poland. So Happy Name Day, Andrzej ! Sean Hogan Llanelli

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